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J.R.'s Bonus Weekend Blog....Lesnar-Couture Weigh-in....WWE Rocks Internationally....More on Legends Roundtable

Posted: Nov 16th 2008 By: mikeiles

Still on England time and thought I would write another blog with some new info and some updated thoughts plus a correction from an earlier blog. Surprisingly there will also be the obligatory mention of our BBQ products hence the name of this website. But on to the news and opinion.

First the correction. Randy Couture was never a NCAA wrestling champion but was runner-up twice and wrestled for an awesome Oklahoma State team in 1990 that won an NCAA Championship.

I watched the weigh in for UFC 91 from Las Vegas with Lesnar weighing in at 265 while Couture tipped the Toledos at 220. Couture will likely weight around 225 Saturday night while Lesnar will be around 275 at match time. There are seemingly endless opinions as to what strategy will be employed by both fighters with no one knowing for sure. We all have our opinions and I feel that, from watching the weigh in that Couture looked more relaxed and certainly looked to be in amazing cardio vascular condition. Couture's camp thinks that Lesnar will fatigue by the 3rd round or so and are apparently counting on it. Randy is a master technician and one can assume he will perhaps attempt something that Lesnar isn't expecting from something as simple as going southpaw on occasion or being extra aggressive and attempting some takedown's early. Most insiders expect Couture to utilize his stand up against Lesnar's unproven stand up defense and no one really knows what kind of punch Lesnar can take. I have a pretty good idea of Lesnar's toughness and organic mean streak and my take is that Lesnar can take a helluva punch. However, how many solid punches Brock can withstand is another question entirely. Lesnar will take Couture down and how well Couture defends against the bigger, stronger grappler/striker when Lesnar is in the dominate position will tell a major story in the bout. Lesnar will not fatigue or blow up physically unless his nerves have gotten the better of him which would then work against the former NCAA Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Not knowing Lesnar's true mental state of mind, one cannot accurately assess how "tight" Lesnar actually is but he looked somewhat "off" at the weigh in. However, that's just one man's opinion who has known Brock on a personal level for quite some time even though we have not communicated since he left the WWE. Lesnar can be distracted and handles pressure differently than many athletes. Nonetheless if Lesnar can have success early, gain some confidence and relax to the degree that he's not psyching himself out I still see Lesnar winning but I am not as sold on that weak prediction as I was prior to the weigh in.

UFC officials are predicting north of 1M PPV buys but I don't see it. The American economy is deplorable, the event isn't sold out, and with PPV buys being discretionary purchases I would suggest that if UFC 91 gets 500,000-750,000 buys it should be considered a major success. Any one who argues that the economy won't affect the number of buys is fooling one's self.

I did a radio show today in OKC and the co-host is a former Oklahoma All American defensive end and collegiate wrestler, Jimbo Elrod, and he thinks Couture will win because of Couture's big match experience and the fact that Randy likely won't make any major mistakes. I still think if Lesnar can relax, weather the storm the first couple of rounds that Brock has the better chance of winning. Again, I'm not overly sold on my prediction and if I were in Vegas Saturday night I would not bet a dime as it really is too close to call and too unpredictable to figure out, at least for me it is.

The WWE sold out Glasgow, Scotland Friday night and Aberdeen, Scotland Saturday night has been sold out for several weeks. WWE events upcoming in Berlin, where ticket sales have exceeded a whopping $1.1M and in Dortmund, Germany which has over $1M dollars in ticket sold will be a great way to end the long but amazingly successful tour. The amount of merchandise sold on this tour will be a significant number as well.

Speaking of numbers, Boston's Survivor Series is a sell out at over $700K and looking all the way to December 22 tickets are moving at a pace that the big super show in Toronto will likely be sold out as well. If you are planning on attending the major event in TO, I strongly suggest that you get your tickets ASAP.

The exploitation of the Iron Sheik is getting sad and that particular joke played out long ago. I feel for Sheik and wish he were in a better state of mind and wasn't the butt of so many jokes. I know that people reap what they sow in life but I'm tapping on this one. If I never hear Sheik cut another Hulk promo in my life it will be just fine with me.

The addition to Cowboy Bill Watts to the Legends Roundtable to be taped in December will make the two shows we produce "must see" TV as Watts will hold nothing back, has no agenda other than his own personal opinions, and isn't looking to get back in the biz. Watts' opinions will be his and his alone and knowing Bill he will do all he can to steal the show from the other panelists. I will be a panelist on one show and the host of another as I understand it. The two topics we will be discussing are Texas Wrestling and the many, many top wrestling stars with Texas roots and African Americans and the contributions they have made in the wrestling business. These are two, great topics to discuss and with the panelists being discussed the conversation and debate should be spirited and intriguing. I have some inside knowledge of who the other panelists might be but I have been sworn to secrecy on that one but, trust me, these two shows should be awesome.

I hope you enjoyed our Friday Night Smackdown from Manchester, England as I personally felt it was a really solid wrestling show that was heavier with in ring product that played to the talents' strengths and was not over verbalized or so it seemed to me. Jeff Hardy had a career Friday Night Smackdown night and he and the Undertaker had me feeling like a true wrestling fan as I watched it Tuesday night and I felt the same way watching it again Friday night.

We taped several TV commercials today at our JR's location in Norman that will begin airing in the OKC area soon. We featured our $5.99 lunch specials and the fact that the vast majority of the entr?es on our menu are under ten bucks. Plus we are getting ready to open our new and improved drive thru in Norman any day now which we feel will greatly help our business. Our holiday offers have been doing super of which we are thankful. I hope you will take a moment to browse our stone and do some holiday shopping as many of the specials include FREE SHIPPING! Our now and don't wait until the last minute to get your products shipped.

I have the weekend off and there is no travel next week for me as we taped two Friday Night Smackdown's last Tuesday in Manchester. I'll likely check out an OU football practice next week as the Sooners prepare for a HUGE game next Saturday in Norman against #2 ranked Big 12 South rival Texas Tech which will be nationally televised by ABC.

I expect to write something about the UFC sometime this weekend after the event. Thanks for stopping by and you are now encouraged to do some shopping with our "Economic Stimulus Package."

Finally we will be broadcast live from JR's in Norman next Thursday from 11-2 with OKC's top classic rock station KRXO with our main man Lee Roberts. Lots of freebies and of course our $5.99 lunch special will be featured. I hope to see you there if you are in the area.


Boomer Sooner!

J.R.

Tags: Jim Ross, WWE, Bill Watts